Cap-crimping tool



W. H. DOWNS.

CAP CRIMPING TOOL.

mmc/wmf: HLED "11.28.1915.

1 l 94,486 Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

096ml' WIN" WILBUR I-I. DOWNS, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.

GAP-CRIMPING TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

Application led April 28, 1915. Serial No. 24,422.

To all 107mm t may concern:

Be it known that I, VILBUR H. DOWNS, a citizen of the United Sta-tes, and a resident of Wilmingtom in the county of New Castle and State of Delaware, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cap- Grimping Tools; and I do hereby declare that the following is a. full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel and handy form of tool, especially designed for use by miners, quarry men, farmers, and others around dynamiting and blasting operations for cutting off the fuse from a fuse roll, crimping the shell of the blasting or detonating cap on the end of the fuse, and punching a cap hole in the end of the dynamite stick or other explosive cartridge.

Among the objects of my invention is to improve the construction of a tool of the kind referred to, in the several particulars as will hereinafter appear, and to provide in particular a tool which is compact in form, easily and quickly opened for use, and when closed may be readily placed and carried in the pocket of the user and occupy no more space therein than would be occupied by the common form of pocket knife of the same size, and, further, to provide a tool wherein f the working parts thereof when closed will be wholly within and be protected from injury or damage by the handle of the tool.

The invention consists further in the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a tool constructed in accordance with my invention, the cap crimper lever arm and knife blade thereof being shown in partially opened position; Fig. 2 is a similar view of the tool, with the exception that its cap crimper lever arm and knife blade are shown in' crimping a blasting or like cap on the end of a fuse; and Fig. 5 is a longitudinal, sectional view of the applied cap and fuse prior to crimping the cap on said fuse.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, illustrating in detail a tool embodying the features of my invention: As shown, said tool has the form of a common pocket knife and comprises a handle 10 consisting of two similarly shaped, metallic, side members 11, 12, which are arranged side by side and spaced apart laterally a sufficient distance to permit the cap crimping lever arm and knife blade, both of which will be referred to presently, to be pivotally secured therebetween. One of the side members of the handle 10 is made heavier or thicker than the other, and, as illustrated, the side member 11 is the heavier or thicker one of the two. A knife blade 13 of the usual form found in large pocket knives is pivoted at one end to the handle 10 between the side members l1, 12, adjacent one end thereof, by means of a pivot pin 14. The latter is inserted through said side members and has its opposite ends riveted or upset against the exterior faces thereof, so as to secure said side members together at one end of the handle 10. The pivoted or inner end of said knife blade 13 turns, in opening and closing the blade, against the free end of a bar spring 15. As shown, said spring is secured at one end by rivets 16, 16 between the side mem- Vbers 11, 12 and serves to hold the knife blade in both its opened and closed positions. Said knife blade may be provided adjacent its pivoted end with an inwardly projecting part 132L which, when said knife blade is closed, contacts against said bar spring 15 and serves to hold the Outer edge or back of said knife blade slightly beyond the corresponding edge of the handle 10, so that said knife blade may be readily grasped when it is desired to withdraw the same into an open position. Said rivets 16, 16 are inserted through the side members 11, 12 and are upset or clenched at their opposite ends against the outer faces of said side members, so as to secure the latter together intermediate the ends of the handle 10. Said blade 13, when closed, lies between the side members 11, 12 with its cutting edge within'and protected by the handle 10 and its back substantially flush with the adjacent edges thereof.

Located opposite the blade 13 is a lever arm 17, which is pivotally securedV at one l (See Fig. 4.)

end 'between the side members 11, 12 by a pivot pin 18. Said lever arm is pivotally secured to said handle adjacent its end opposite the pivot pin for the knife blade, and said lever arm, when swung outwardly into an opened from a closed position, is mover` in a direction opposite to that in which said blade is moved when opened. Said pin 1S is inserted through the side members 11,V 12 and has its opposite ends 'upset or riveted against the side faces of the latter, so as to secure said side vmembers together at the end of the handle 10 opposite the pivot pin for said knife blade. Said lever arm 17, when closed, occupies a position between the side members 1l, 12 similar to that occupied by the knife blade when closed. (See Fig. 2.) rlhe inner edge or margin of said lever arm 17 passes the adj acent edge of the handle 10, when the lever arm is moved into opened and closed positions,vand said lever arm and said handle are provided with opposed notches 19, 20. Said notches are complementary and as shown are semicircular or arcuate in shape and open toward each other and extend transversely through the parts in which they are formed. 17 is moved past the notch 19 in the handle, when the lever arm is moved into closed or opened position, and, as illustrated, the notch 19 is made in the heavy side member 11 of the handle 10. The inner or coacting edges 21, 22 of said notches 19, 20 are rounded transversely, so as to prevent cutting or otherwise injuring` the shell of the blasting cap, when said edges are moved therealgainst in crimping the cap on-the end of a fuse. The arcuate walls of said notches 19, 2O slope or incline outwardly, so as to give a flared entrance thereto.

The lever arm 17 and the handle 10 are further providedV with coacting cutting edges 23, 24 respectively, which cutting edges pass each other in the manner of a shear, when said lever arm 17 is moved from opened into closed position. The cutting edge 24 of the handle is formed in the heavy side member 11 thereof, and, as illustra-ted, said cutting edge is semicircular or arcuate in shape and constitutes the inner edge of a Vsimilarly shaped notch made in said side member be'- `vond the crimping notch f 19 above referred to.

As shown in Fig. 3, that portion of the lighter or thinner side member 12 of the handle is cut away opposite the crimping Y and cutting notches 19,V 24, respectively, in

the heavier side member 11 of the handle, so fr that no portion of said side member 12 will 'extend over said notches and prevent the blasting cap and applied fuse or fuse alone from being inserted in said notches and between the handle 10 and opened lever arm 17. The tool' herein described and shown is used in thefollowing manner:- I/Vhen it is -or like cap 2G.

. crimp or press a portion of the shell of the The notch 20 in the lever arm Y receive the same.

desired to cut off a length of fuse from the fuse roll or the like, the lever arm 17 is opened a suiiicient distance to permit the fuse to be inserted between the cutting edges 23, 24 of the same and the handle 10. The fuse is placed in the cutting notch 24 of the side Vmember 11, and the lever arm 17 is moved toward the handle, thereby cutting the fuse. The cut-off length of fuse is indicated by 25 in the drawings. The cut-off end 25 of the fuse is then inserted into the open end of the tubular shell of the blasting (See Fig. 5.) The lever arm 17 is again opened, and the fuse with cap thereon is' inserted between the lever armv and the handle in the crimping notches 19,

20V thereof. (See Fig. 4.) rThe lever arm is then drawn toward the handle, and the edges 21, 22 of said crimping notches act to cap 26 tightly against the fuse. Upon the completion of this operation, the lever arm is raised, and the fuse with the crimped cap thereon is withdrawn from the tool. The knife blade 13 when opened may be used to split sticks of dynamite, cut insulation from connecting and lead wires, or for any purpose for which such a part may be used.

In order to hold the lever 17 closed, the latter is provided, in the face thereof opposed to the inner face of the lighter side member 12, with a recess or socket 27, into which is adapted to snap an inwardly projecting detent or lug 28 provided on said side member 12. The lever arm 17 is also 10o designed to be used as a primer, and with this in view the free end portion 2&9 of said lever ar'm 17 is pointed, so that the same may be used to punch or form a cap hole in the dynamite stick or other explosive cartridge.V The widest part of such end portion is made to have a diameter equal to that of the cap 26, so that the cap hole will The primer lever 17 may be made of copper or other metal which will not produce sparks when the lever is forcedv into a dynamite stick. The cutting edges 23, 24 may also be used for cutting lead wire and the like.

Although I have shown and described herein one form in which a tool embodying the features of my invention may be made and constructed, yet it is to be'understood that I mayV variously modify thel details of construction and arrangements of parts illustrated without departing from the spirit and sco-pe of my invention, Vand I do notY wish to be limited Vto the exact details of construction and arrangement of parts shown, except as pointed out in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

, A cap crimping tool, comprising a handle formed of two side members laterally spaced apart and secured together adjacent each Y end of the'handle, and a lever arm pivotally 1,80

secured at one of its ends to and between said side members and adjacent to one end of said handle, said lever arm having its inner edge located between said side members, when said lever arm is in closed position, said lever arm being provided in its inner edge and adjacent its pivoted end with a, notch opening toward said handle; one of the side members of said handle being provided with a notch opposed to the notch in said lever arm and the edges of said notches being adapted to pass each other when said lever arm is moved into opened and closed positions, and the other side member of said handle having a recess, the edge of which is 15 presence of two witnesses, this 24th day of 20 April, A. D. 1915.

wILBUR H. DowNs.

Witnesses:

LoUnLLA F. LITTLE, ENNA GRABAU.

Copies of this patent may 'be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

